Articles

Film Photography By Women

Lee Miller - A hero both in an artistic and a literal sense

When we think of the greats of photojournalism during the Second World War, we usually remember Robert Capa's D-Day coverage that got partly melted by a lab technician. He was not the only one covering front line fighting though and among those photographers who stood their ground in the middle of flying bullets was none other than model and surrealist photographer become photojournalist Lee Miller (1907-1977). Apprenticed to Man Ray before the war she became attached to the 83rd Infantry Division of the US Army when the US entered the fighting. As the Allied forces advanced from Normandy down to Paris, and eventually into Germany, she photographed the concentration camps Dachau and Buchenwald with all their horrors. She even let herself be photographed by her colleague David E. Scherman bathing naked in Hitler's tub in his Munich apartment. Next to the bathtub her boots were still covered in the dirt of Dachau. Her photographs became iconic historical documents and have been the basis for the way we remember this sad chapter of history, and still Lee Miller's work seems almost forgotten now. Today we want to remind you of Lee Miller's heroics both in an artistic and a literal sense.Lee Miller's work can be viewed at Lee Miller Archives - where even her contact sheets are available.